Tracy Reese’s Hope For Flowers brand is five years into production, and when she presented the spring 2026 collection in New York at the Designers & Agents trade show, several buyers made a point to tell her, “this is your best collection ever,” Reese said over Zoom from her office in Detroit. Reese called the range “a quintessential Hope For Flowers collection; it’s very feminine [and] very colorful.” But whereas past outings leaned heavily on signature pieces and expected prints—smocked shirting, block print florals—this one introduced a wider range of fabrics, and a color story that ranged from subdued to dramatic.

Reese sourced an EcoVero georgette for a frilled maxi dress, a shell top, and a midi dress with a draped neckline. “Sheerness has eluded me until we found this fabric because there just aren’t a lot of sustainable sheer fabrics,” she said. The pieces, along with strapless A-line and ruched mini dresses, were in a diffused watercolor print—a pretty mix of pinks, peaches, blues, and a brownish-orange color Reese likened to marmalade. A few of the designer’s favorite silhouettes got an update: harem pants were structured and tailored; shirting fell off the shoulder; and a new iteration of the Hope For Flowers pom-pom pant came in linen with espresso-colored cross-stitch embroidery. “I think this is a time for brown,” she said, noting an espresso floral bustier dress and halter jumpsuit. “Sometimes people are intimidated by brown prints, but it’s time for it. It just looks really chic.”

While the candy-colored concentric squares on a pair of shorts and the vibrant stripes of a spring trench would pop on the runway, producing a show is not a grind that Reese misses; she’s happy to be building Hope For Flowers outside of the traditional brand playbook. “I loved it, I really did,” she says of her days helming her namesake label and being on the official New York Fashion Week calendar. “But I don’t miss sacrificing my life for the runway. And I also think that it’s wonderful to pass the baton to the next generation. I’m happy to yield the stage, and to be in Detroit where the pace is different, where our impact is more felt.”